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I'd like to share one tale with you. I would appreciate your comments, ideas, corrections, addings.......

Alice in NO WONDERland

(one day from a little girl’s life)

It’s dull outside.  Raindrops are trying to pull me down from my sofa and carry to the far away world of dreams and imagination. My head becomes heavy and I don’t resist any more. I step onboard of the ship of my childhood. It is cradled slightly on the waves, which together with the wind take us to the unknown earth. And so I am back in my childhood. I’m delighted to enter the territory of reminiscence and rest my tired thoughts in the place of happiness and candy floss. That is where I started my journey into life, and that’s where I would stay as long as only possible, having nowhere to hurry, enjoying the moment, simply being a child.

  I make myself cozy and fix all attention on my feelings. The sun touches my nose, smiling to my freckles, white clouds tickle tall  branches, ants confess their secrets right into my ear. I can hear some distant stream and a non-stopping babbling of birds; a woodpecker  drums the rhythm of the woods; all the noises mix together, dance to a single melody. And there appears a new story in my head. The story about a small girl named Alice.

  Morning sunrays have crept into the sleepy room to let everyone know that a new day has started and it was time to get up. One of the rays must have whispered something into Alice’s ear, because the girl started to move and wrinkle her nose in discontent. “Hei, rabbit! Where are you going? Don’t run away from me” was her first thought. “Again this unsolved riddle. Why is everyone saying not to follow the white rabbit? If I keep waking up like this, I’ll never get to know his secret.”

  This was the beginning of her new day. She didn’t stay sad for a long time. The rabbit dream reminded her of other animals she has met the other day in a small zoo. Alice touched yak’s snout, said hello to wallaby, had a conversation with a bison and tried to take some feathers from a peacock - just to remember how beautiful he looked. She was so impressed, she didn’t want to return home. Only a little story about every animal, told by her dad, calmed her down. The girl found out that bison chew the grass, which they have eaten during the day, at night. They also love lying around in mud and then scratch themselves on stones and grass to get rid of it. Our small lass liked funny capybaras very much. They are the largest rodents and their name means “master of the grass”. And though these animals look rather clumsy, they are very fast and are also good swimmers. They  lunge into water when running from predators. Dad also told her what was so special about that big bird that was walking so proudly. Alice liked its color and gorgeous long feathers, but she didn’t know that male peacocks can raise them into a fan to draw attention from the female side. She was waiting, and asking, and pleading, but none of the peacocks loosened its tail, so she could only imagine what a beauty that must be. Our girl did not really like ostriches. Though they looked funny with their huge eyes, long legs and neck, she noticed some unfriendliness in their look. Papa said these large birds are very fast but they don’t really hide their heads in sand when they’re afraid. That’s just some funny legend, which quite disappointed our little girl.

  While all these recollections were floating in her head and everyone else was busy in the kitchen, Alice made up her mind to make a surprise for mommy and draw a wonderful  bouquet of roses on a wall. “Mum adores flowers, but they fade so quickly. And when I draw them on a wall, they can stay there forever”, decided she and so she did. And though the girl couldn’t find any pencil, she saw a nice rosy lipstick in one of her mother’s drawers. After a few minutes the room was decorated with a beautiful (at least Alice thought so) bright roses. The lass was so amazed with her masterpiece, the thought that someone could not like it did not even occur in her mind. Only after getting a good scolding did she realize that all people have different tastes in arts. Mother was angry because of the new lipstick, father – because he had to repaint the whole wall. As to Alice, she hid herself in her favorite corner and was licking her wounds-of-an-offended-kitten. She was mad at her parents for not recognizing her talent, but not for long – till one day she saw a TV program about one painter called Vincent van Gogh, who had cut off a piece of his own ear. They say that artists are a bit weird. But that’s no wonder, having such a mess in their heads. All those images, colors and pictures, one can easily go gaga. Alice loved herself and every part of her body was very precious to her. She wouldn’t give away the smallest piece of her ear for any artistic genius. Having realized that, she forgot about the offense.

  “What do we have for breakfast today?” Alice liked to eat tasty things. She remembered a very tasty fish dish, cooked by her father the other day. That fish wasn’t just fish. It was the fish they’ve caught together, fishing on one of the lakes. “Daddy, carefully. Grab it till it’s not gone back in the water”. The fish was hanging on a rod, wriggling violently, trying to get herself out of trouble. But it was her unlucky day. Father pressed fish’s eyes and she stopped twitching.

  “Did you know one can stop a fish move by pressing her eyes?” Alice was terrorizing all her friends afterwards. “Fishes are coldblooded. They can stay in water the whole day and not be cold”, Alice told her grandmother, “and they don’t need air, they breathe under water with the help of gills”. The fish story ended up with the girl getting to know that the yummy salted beans she has tasted the other day were nothing else but fish’s unborn children, taken out of her belly. This was enough to discourage her from fishing for a long time. The lass was so upset, she ran to share the horrible information with her mom, who tried to comfort her.

  “Don’t you worry about that fish. This is the way things are in our life. We need to eat if we want to live. Bigger fishes also eat smaller fishes and bigger and stronger animals kill weaker animals to survive and to feed their cubs. This is all natural. So forget about it. Let’s better go and watch the swallows over there.”

  Alice calmed down a little, but one unpleasant thought was still occupying her mind: “How great it is that big and strong people have no need to hunt for small and weak people.”

  All the sadness was gone after they decided to have a walk along the lake shore where grass was so tall, the girl could easily hide there without even kneeling. They were playing hide-and-seek when Alice made up her mind to have a small rest and watch the beautiful sky. The clouds were so nice: one was like a cat, the other one like a pillow, still another one reminded her of an elephant and that one – of a…..of a rabbit! “Again rabbits. Even our new neighbor asked me not to follow the white rabbit after he‘s found out my name. And I wasn’t even going to. It would be heaps better to ride a cloud-horse or to take a nap on one of those cozy soft cloud-pillows.”

  She was so deep in her dreams, she forgot all about the mother who was looking for her and yelling daughter’s name till Alice finally heard her and came out of her lurking place.

  “I’m here, mom!” said she with a radiant smile on her face, “that was a good place to hide in, wasn’t it?”

  “Oh yeah, it was. I almost lost my mind worrying!”

  “Lost your mind? Is it possible? Where have you lost it? Let’s go and find it.”

  “Oh dear, that’s just an expression. I didn’t really lose it.”

  “Are you sure? How can you know it’s in its proper place?”

  “Well, I wouldn’t be able to talk to you this normal without it and I am pretty sure I’d have a rather weird expression on my face.”

  They both laughed heartily, imagining how a person must look like, having her mind in some other place than head and then went to take pictures of birds. The swallows were kiting low above the grass, then rose up to the sky, dancing joyfully and then descended to the ground again, looking for some food. Alice found out that birds also eat worms and insects. But this time she had no time to get upset, because her attention was caught by an ant. The girl followed her with her gaze and saw another one. The two had a word and ran away in different directions, but in a few seconds there was a whole army of ants.

  “They must have signaled somehow to their relatives to gather on this spot” thought the lass.

  When ants started to move in her direction, Alice jumped aside, afraid they wanted to attack her (like Lilliputs  did with Gulliver). She imagined how this mad army knocked her down and pulled away to… the girl did not finish her thought. Small warriors marched past her to the place where some big, fat caterpillar was lying dead in the grass. Altogether they put the body on their backs and made their way, as soon Alice found out, to their home. This was a real pile of chaos with constant movement.

  “No wonder this house has got no doors. No ant’s head, even the most patient, could stand such an amount of door slamming.”

  Though she tried very hard, it was impossible to see anything inside the building. Alice was almost sure that every time she peeped in one or another hole, there appeared a tiny fist and tried to eject her from its territory.

  “So, how am I to get inside? No wonder I cannot squeeze myself in, the holes are too small. What’s the way out, or, better to say, in? I have heard something about some magical potion. You take a sip and become smaller. Great idea! Only that I don’t have any potion. But maybe…maybe I could make one of the holes bigger, just dig it with my finger a bit. Then I can see the anthill from inside. There must be hundreds of rooms. I wonder if every ant has its own room or they share them with friends, maybe even sleep on two-storey beds. And who cooks for them? I would like to see that huge cauldron with some fat larvae and slugs simmering inside. There also must be some special pipe system that delivers portions to each and every ant. Interesting, do they eat with forks and knives or just lick their food off their plates (if there are such), like dogs and cats.”

  And so Alice was thinking about the ants’ way of life till she got very sleepy. Then she decided to move further from the insects – so they could not rummage in her nose, looking for some nourishment while her beauty sleep –and find her mother, who was still busy with the swallows. Poor girl was so tired, that she didn’t even manage to count her favorite elephants before she fell asleep on the soft grass.

  That day was bright and impressive. But let us go back to our breakfast. There was no yummy fish, only an oatmeal. So Alice, still very unhappy after her unsuccessful attempt to create joy in the house, felt even more upset. Her mother could not but notice it.

  “Why are you mumping?” asked she, trying to sound cheerful.

  “I’m not mumping. I just don’t want to eat this porridge thing.”

  “For your information, oatmeal, as many other products, has lots of vitamins and nutrients and while eating them, you supply your body with all good stuff that nature gives us, and then you grow healthy, strong and happy.”

   “Really?” Alice’s voice changed from dull to very curious. “And how do they look like? I mean vitamins, are they some kind of insects, like ants? Why haven’t I seen them by now?”

  And she started to pick in her porridge, hoping to see at least one little C or B2. Her mother smiled and said:

  “They are too small to be seen without microscope. You just eat and they will all come down to your stomach, that’s for sure.”

  The girl ate up every piece of oatmeal, feeling stronger and a couple of millimeters taller. She hurried outside, where the sun was pretty high already and was touching her pleasantly with its warm hands. Suddenly Alice wished to meet the white rabbit.

  “I wish I could see him now.”

She never really believed that animals did not speak.

  “They just don’t want us, humans, to hear them.”

  Their house was near a huge green park, so the lass ran there in the search of adventures. She played with some neighbor kids, jumped on a rope, baked some sand pies, in a nutshell, did lots of things but did not meet any rabbits. She started to feel some kind of despair, rising inside her, when she saw a squirrel that was jumping from branch to branch, looking for something tasty. So Alice decided to find out if animals do speak or they do not.

  “Hei, miss Squirrel!” the girl was used to decency. One should treat elder and strange people with respect. And though a squirrel could be included in neither of these categories, Alice chose to address her this nicely and try not to offend her in any way, “miss with the pussy tail.”

  The squirrel did not respond, but stopped after the nice remark about her beauty. She gazed at the lass, jerking her magnificent tail.

  «Excuse me for interrupting you, I have one very important question. Can you speak?”

The squirrel went on fussing on the tree, then jumped down and started romping in the grass around Alice.

  “Busy, busy, busy. Don’t you see that I’m busy. There is no time for babbling, unless you have a couple of nuts to share.”

  “I’m sorry, I don’t.”

  “Well then, don’t waste my time. What do you want from me? I still have so much work. Winter’s coming.”

  The girl wanted to object that it was only summer and wanted to ask the fidgety creature to stop fussing around her cause she was starting to feel dizzy, but the happy thought about how she was going to tell everyone that a squirrel has talked to her, stopped her. After a second another thought stopped the first thought. No one was going to believe her, so there was no point in telling them. Alice felt frustrated and asked the squirrel:

  “So what is it you are gathering for winter?”

  “Are you nuts? What stupid questions are you asking me? Don’t you store food for winter?”

  “No” Alice felt still more frustrated, “all we need in winter, can be found in stores. As well as in summer” only now the girl realized how convenient it was. They didn’t need to bother about anything of that kind. Everything was ready and packed, just waiting on the supermarket shelves, “oh, but my granny does! Mmm, delicious pickled tomatoes and cucumbers, and jams, and……and also sauerkraut. It is so nice to taste it in winter. I love visiting my grandma.”

  This seemed to make the small beast still more angry.

“Well, lucky you have such a grandma, but I do not! So excuse me, I have work to do.”

  And on this pathetic note she left. Alice was disappointed because of the squirrel’s unfriendliness, but tried to find an excuse for her:

“Well, no wonder she’s so nervous, she has no granny who could take care of her.”

  And the poor lonely girl went further, flying high in her dreams. The sun was too warm, so she hid herself under a big tree, feeling a great need to talk to someone. But there was no one around.  Alice decided to go home, when she heard a noise near the bushes. Her heart leaped with joy, longing for adventure.

  “What if that’s the white rabbit!”

  She was so bored she’d definitely follow him despite all the warnings. The girl kneeled down to find out who was hiding there. She grabbed something that was moving in the grass and yelped with pain, jerking her hand back. That wasn’t rabbit, it was a hedgehog. Alice was so happy, she forgot all about the pain and tried to take a closer look at the creature which she’s heard a lot about but never seen alive. That turned out to be not so easy. The hedgehog rolled into a ball and didn’t want to show himself. Our I-want-to-know-everything girl couldn’t miss the chance to get acquainted with a new animal, so she decided to wait. Once her mama said that hedgehogs hide when they are afraid. One needs to wait till they calm down and feel no more danger around. While waiting, Alice tried to remember some facts she knew about these creatures. They, like bears, go to a long sleep during the coldest period of the year…that was all she could think of. The time was passing, her patience either. After a while Alice noticed a small movement. The hedgehog unrolled a little bit and peeped out his nose which must have felt some impatience, gathering around him, because he rolled in again and seemed to fall asleep. And that was too much for the poor lass.

  “What a stupid day today! First I meet that freaky squirrel, now – this little coward.”

  She was running home when she heard her mother calling her. Dinner was ready. Alice was glad to feel the coolness of the house. When her nostrils caught the aroma from the kitchen, her spirits rose at once.

  “Go wash your hands first. And don’t forget the soap” said mom when she saw her daughter sit at the table.

  “Why is it so important to wash hands with soap?” asked Alice, rubbing her fingers and playing with babbles.

  “Because it kills germs. You cannot wash them out with just water. They are sneaky, those germs.”

  The girl remembered an article her father read to her. About bacteria and stuff. Most of germs are bad invaders, who creep into our bodies and can cause diseases. It’s scary because those creatures are so small, one cannot see them. But they are everywhere - outside and inside. That’s why it’s so important to wash hands with soap and do it often.

  Alice’s imagination drew a great battle between black knights of dirt and white warriors of soap. After a long and grueling struggle the Whites win, washing the Blacks off into the sewage. The girl was so proud of her brave soldiers, she ate in silence. She wanted to give them a good rest, so that they could go on protecting her when the restless hands catch some germs again.

  After dinner Alice made herself cozy in her favorite hammock outside and felt almost like on clouds. Soft swinging cradled her thoughts; the wind was playing around with beautiful fragrances of nature: he grabbed the odorous apple blossom by the hand, grasped the scent of the mown grass, added the aroma of some flowers and watered ground, and whirled them all in some wild dancing. A car passed. The odorant swirl followed it, mixing with the stink from the exhaust, and flew away, repulsively coughing up some gasoline.

  With her eyes closed our lass was enjoying the soft whispering of trees. She was almost falling asleep when she heard her mother asking her:

  “Want to have a walk to the river?”

It was a pity to leave all this comfort but Alice’s restlessness won.

  “Yeap! May I take my bike?”

  The lass loved her bike. She couldn’t wait till she grows up and travels around the world on exactly this kind of transport as she believed it to be the only way to truly open the whole beauty of new lands. Though Alice didn’t go to school yet, she knew much about travelling, countries and various folks with their cultures. Her grandfather was telling her stories about his journeys from the very beginning of her life. And he had seen almost the whole world, climbed countless number of mountains and took pictures of the most beautiful places. He had a big collection of photographs at home and he loved sharing interesting reminiscences with his granddaughter. A couple of times grandpa took her rafting. That was exciting! And though the water was quite calm with only some rough places, Alice felt very extreme. At that time he was in Caucasus, conquering the far away Elbrus. The man seemed pretty weird to many people but his granddaughter adored him. No wonder she couldn’t sit on one place for too long, she took after her grandpa. She went ape when she heard the idea of spending hot summer on the covered with snow top of Europe. And when the winter would come, Alice was sure the restless oldie was going to find some summer-all-year-round places. And that meant she was going to have lots of presents and bedtime stories.

 So, the girl and her mother went to a little river in the woods where there was no road and no civilization. They decided not to take the bicycle, just walk on their feet. When the two stepped into the forest they felt as if they’ve reached some other world – the world of soothing sounds and refreshing air. The birds were singing so nicely, they wanted to dance. The flavor of trees and the ground’s moisture was wrapping their body, carrying away from routine. Mother and daughter made themselves cozy under a huge pine and listened to the babble of the river. And so they were sitting till Alice decided to ask the question that was bothering her those last days.

  “What do you know about rabbits?”

  “About rabbits? What exactly do you want to hear about them?” asked her mom surprised.

  “I need to know about one – the white rabbit. He must be some special because everyone tells me not to follow him. And why only me? Everyone’s allowed, and me not? And why on earth should I do it? I’ve never had an intention to run after stupid rabbits!” the girl got angry.

  The woman started to laugh so clearly, her laugh seemed to run deep into the forest, as if looking for that funny rabbit. Alice watched her, frowning. After mummy has had enough of fun, she looked at her daughter and said seriously:

  “That rabbit is not real. He’s from the story, written by Lewis Carroll.”

  “Did he write about rabbits?”

  “Not really. That is the story about a girl Alice who liked adventures. It begins when she follows the white rabbit and appears in a different world. It’s a very interesting book, so everyone has read it. And when they hear your name, they think about the Alice from wonderland and ask you not to follow any rabbits. They are just joking.”

  “Really? But why haven’t I heard about her. You have never read that book to me.”

  “ I wonder myself. You have listened too much about the far away countries and high mountains. But don’t get upset. We have it at home: “Alice’s adventures in wonderland” and “Through the looking glass”, which is another story about the same girl.”

  “You must read it to me. Tonight, ok?”

  “Tonight granny’s coming. I’m sure she will be happy to read for you.”

  Alice was a bit disappointed. She expected something real and adventurous and the rabbit turned out to be fiction. The girl didn’t want to stay in the woods any longer, she wanted to get home, climb into her hammock, and listen to the story about Alice and her rabbit. So she was happy to hear her mom saying it was time to go back. On their way home everything seemed enchanted. They noticed a hedgehog that wasn’t hiding and Alice’s ear caught some words from a joyful song the small creature was humming. She also noticed moss on trees and remembered her grandpa’s guidance.

  “Remember, sunny, if you ever happen to get lost and won’t have compass, moss will always help with navigation” he liked to tell her, “it grows only on north side.”

  It is doubtfully that our small girl really understood the meaning of the moss, growing on the north side, but she did her best to remember everything her dear grandpa was telling. She was sure it would be helpful once.

 Granny was waiting for them on the porch.

 “Where have you been? I have been waiting for you for hours!” said she hugging her granddaughter.

  “Hi, granny!” replied Alice and the next moment she received another big hug from Doby – a huge shepherd – granny’s dog. Meetings of those two have always been very emotional. The dog put his paws on her shoulders, almost knocking down with his weight, and covered her face with slobbery licking and Alice in her turn yelled happily, playing with his fur and ears. That was sweet. 

  Our girl loved guests. Noises and laughing were flying around the house, peeping in every slot. They seemed to waken it. Alice was so busy with her family, she forgot about the book. Granny was telling about the grandpa who has called her that day. He had reached the top and was having a rest with the Kabardins. The loving granddaughter felt happy for him. It was not his first trip to that mountain. But this time it was a ski tour. And he succeeded again.

  After a substantial supper the whole family moved to the porch to chat and have a piece of granny’s tasty pie. Doby placed himself at Alice’s feet, looking at her from time to time, asking for a piece of that yummy thing. It was getting darker. Trees changed into calmer clothes, ears could catch some crickets’ whistling, grown-ups were talking about something boring. The child admired evening sky with a new moon. She wondered if there was someone sitting there and watching her. Alice started winking in case that someone really existed. She’d better wave with her legs and hands, but then all would notice it, and she would have to explain why she was doing it. And grown-ups, as we know, don’t believe in fairies. There was a falling star. Everyone could make a wish. And there one could see a plain, blinking with its eyes.

  “There’s someone hurrying home” used to tell grandpa, “I always hurry home to my loved ones. Cause there’s no place like home.”

  She had a smart grandpa, thought the girl. He gave her the name Alice. And here she remembered about the book.

  “Granny! We have a book to read!” her scream startled all around. Doby began barking as if asking:

  “Yeah, when will we start reading?”

  While mom and dad were cleaning up the table, Alice with the dog made themselves cozy in the girl’s bed, ready to listen. Granny’s pleasant voice was telling about a very interesting and restless little girl named Alice Liddell, who liked to make things up, just like our Alice. So she closed her eyes and was imagining every new adventure and all the heroes from wonderland.

  “That’s an awesome story!” thought the lass, “I wonder if anything of the kind could happen to me.”

  And she flew on sleepy clouds into the world of dreams. She knew that that was wonderland where anything could happen. And she met the white rabbit, who presented her his watch, and promised never to be in a hurry again; and the blue caterpillar, who was crawling on the wall, chewing her painted roses; and also the mad hatter with the march hare, who were having tea with Vincent van Gogh, and were trying to hitch back his piece of ear, and lots and lots of other nonsense.

  Granny did not read the book till the end. She looked at her granddaughter, who fell asleep with a smile on her face and her legs on the dog. Doby was also sleeping, jerking his paws from time to time as if running. She stroke the girl’s curly hair and left them both with their dreams.

  The next day brought them new adventures. But that’s no wonder. Our world is full of miracles.